Y'all asked for a preview of Virginia so here it is: Obama is still ahead there. Final numbers soon

EDIT: Obama 50-47. Romney got his 2 point bounce, up from 51-46 3 weeks ago.http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/10/obama-leads-by-3-in-virginia.html1) Obama leads 52-44 among women and trails by only 1, 49-48 among men. 2) He's down 57-40 among white voters but up 59-34 among nonwhite voters.3) Those under 40 support Obama 59-38, so VA might become a blue state in the next 20 years. 4) The only thing making it close is Romney's huge lead, 59-43, among the group most likely to vote. Old Folk.

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Romney's performance in the debate on Wednesday seems to have helped his image with Virginia voters. They think he won the debate by a 61/28 margin, including 71/17 with independents. Compared to our last poll he's seen a 10 point gain in his net favorability rating from -2 at 47/49 in mid-September to now +8 at 52/44. The problem for Romney is that most of that gain has come with Democrats, from 6/90 to 21/76. But still only 8% of those Democrats are actually voting for Romney. Much of the improvement in Romney's image is people going from hating Romney and voting for Obama to respecting Romney but still voting for Obama.The reason the race hasn't moved much despite the improvement in Romney's image is that Obama's held steady over the last three weeks in spite of his poor debate performance. 3 weeks ago 50% of Virginians approved of him and 48% disapproved. Now 50% of Virginians approve of him and 48% disapprove. There's been no movement whatsoever in perceptions of his job performance. Obama has a 50/47 advantage over Romney in terms of who voters trust more on the economy, and a 51/46 edge on foreign policy.

It's a bit weird that WI is tighter than VA. Were the polls both done over the same three days?

It doesn't surprise me. Virginia has been perhaps the fastest Democratic-trending state of the past 5-6 years. I think it's more or less reached stability, but could become 1-2 points more Democratic by 2016.

This is great news. There's no way Romney can win without OH/VA, unless he sweeps NC, WI, FL, IA, NV, CO & one of the following - MN, NH, PA, MI or NM.

If the right-leaning snap polls by Gravis, Rasmussen, and We Ask America soon after the debate were valid, then the PPP poll in Virginia (PPP is as good as any except perhaps Selzer) suggests that the Romney campaign is in deep trouble.

The bump that President Obama got for offing Osama bin Laden was also short-lived.

It's a bit weird that WI is tighter than VA. Were the polls both done over the same three days?

Could be that Wisconsin is simply more "elastic" than Virginia. You know, having more white people and all.

This is correct, but it is way too simplistic to just say "white people" and be done with it. Virginia has a lot of southern whites who are voting for Romney no matter what and liberals up in NOVA who are voting for Obama no matter what. Add in a bunch of Blacks and Puerto Ricans and you have a fairly stable electorate. In Wisconsin you have the northern half of the state being working class whites living in small, but industrial, towns with no racial tension. These are quintessential swing voters.